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Vakos Ironeye
Vakos, son of Gargresh '''(also known as 'Vakos the Elder', 'Vakos Ironeye', and 'Vakos the Lost') is an orcish shaman. An older orc, he lived through the events that led to the orcs drinking the Demon Blood. Originally brought up in a deep shamanistic lifestyle, he later fell to the fel magic of the Burning Legion and became a warlock. Vakos is a veteran of the First and Second War, and was later captured after the destruction of Draenor, interred at Lordamere Internment Camp. He later escaped with the rest of orcs, hailing allegience to the new Warchief Thrall, following the Horde across the Maelstrom to Kalimdor and the founding of Durotan. Vakos continued to be an active member of the Horde, participating in conflicts in the Barrens and Ashenvale before joining the campaign against Theramore. Early Life Like his Bleeding Hollow brethren, Vakos was born in the south of Tanaan Jungle. He was born of Gargresh, son of Kolvak; and Maela, daughter of Holgash. He was born thirty-four years before the Opening of the Dark Portal, a time of peace amongst the orcs. Vakos was preceded by his brother, Elgrak, and sister, Zjaela, and followed by his brothers Karmak, Trumok, and Braktur. On the night of Vakos’ birth, the Tanaan Jungle was hit by a hurricane. The shamans of the village foretold that this meant Vakos would bring about the end of his family. Gargresh dismissed this, disbelieving in the mystic’s warnings. His father was a smith and a warrior, earning fame and honor for him and his family. He was not a orc who did much to honor his ancestors or the old ways. Conversely, his mother Maela was a daughter of a Thunderlord Clan shaman. Wary of the shamans’ warning, she took Vakos in the middle of the night and fled to Frostfire Ridge to consult her Clan about her child. She was however intercepted by her mate and dragged back to the village to face judgment. Gargresh advocated that she return to him, but the clan council banished her. She would move to Frostfire to return to the Thunderlords, and would never again return to Tanaan Jungle. Vakos was originally a weak and sickly child. Now hated by his father and constantly humiliated by his older siblings, Vakos was little more than the shame of the family and village. Gargresh would often force Vakos to sleep outdoors with the wolves with nothing but bones and rags. Vakos was often left outside of the village, his father believing the roaming arakkoa would kill him. Vakos was malnourished and embittered as a child, and hated by his father. Around the age of ten, Vakos was grinding down herbs for his family. His eldest brother Elgrak came by and smashed the bowl Vakos was holding over the small orc's head. Elgrak laughed at Vakos, saying that he was an impudent worm, unworthy of his father's name. Elgrak picked up a stick and viciously beat Vakos again and again. Vakos stretched out his blood-soaked arms toward his brother, as static streams collected and a burst of thunder shot forward. Elgrak was struck by the blast, ripping his head and chest from the rest of his body. Vakos, seeing what had happened, tried to flee westward, but was found by raiders and brought back to his village. His father was ready to kill his son Vakos, but the vilage elders stopped him, saying he was to begin his training as a shaman immediately. Vakos learnt the ways of the elements, becoming a powerful and wise shaman despite his youth. He became a soothsayer and a medicine man. Many orcs trusted their lives to Vakos in this regard, and Vakos' life was good for a time. When the time came for Vakos' om'riggor, he travelled to Oshu'Gun in Nagrand to make peace with his ancestors. There he met with the spirit of his murdered brother. Elgrak did not forgive Vakos for his heinousness. Rise of the Clans Vakos took a mate from a nearby village, Gura. She was the daughter of a blacksmith. Gura gave Vakos a daughter, which he named Jo'la. As she grew, Jo'a began to accompany Vakos as he travelled; she often learnt the names and histories of the many clans. As Gul'dan became a more prominent figure amongst the orcs, Vakos worried for the small harmony that existed between his people and the Draenei in neighbouring Tuurem. Vakos had often traded with them and used their wares on his way westward. As war erupted, Vakos tried to take his family out of Tanaan and to Nagrand where they could live under the protection of the mighty Warsong. However, a small band of Draenei found them. Vakos was bound down, and he watched helplessly as they butchered his wife and daughter, calling them 'dogs'. Vakos was thrown into a rage, bludgeoning the Draenei to death his bare hands. He smashed the broken skulls of the Draenei until they were dust, and Vakos wailed and wept over the bodies of his family. He prayed to his ancestors to give them peace, and cremated their bodies. He then continued heading west, but this time with a different purpose. Vakos arrived in Nagrand a changed orc. The torment that his passivity led to their deaths drove him to a state of madness. He went to the Warsong, and pledged his allegiance to any orc that would kill as many Draenei as possible. He returned to Tanaan Jungle to join the now warmongering orcish tribes. Vakos killed all the Draenei he could, as well as any orcs that did not support the cause. This included members of his clan, his village, and even some of his brothers. Before the Siege on Shattrath, Vakos and several other shaman met. They discussed how they had lost the ability to commune with the elements. In the absence, members of the Stormreaver Clan offered up the dark mysticism of warlock magic. The Bleeding Hollow were offered the drink of the demon blood, and Vakos was took it. Vakos, sought all the power he could and a way to destroy the Draenei civilization, and thus he was perverted him into a blood-crazed sorcerer. Vakos went from channeling the spirits of his ancestors to twisting fire and fel energy to incinerate women and children. That day, the Horde reigned victorious over the destroyed city, and the Draenei became a broken and lost people. First War After the fall of Shattrath and the Horde victory, clans began to clash with one another. Vakos began to scratch and scour the little remaining resources and food to feed him and his men. So when Gul'dan of the Stormreaver came to Tanaan to promise a gateway to a new world, many orcs jumped at the opportunity. Vakos personally helped with warping the dimensions through the Twisting Nether. The Bleeding Hollow were the first to cross into the new world, and Vakos was amongst them. The Horde marched easily to the first siege of Stormwind, but were eventually defeated due to a combination of mounted calvary and strong castle defenses. On their retreat, Vakos was thrown into a rage, blaming the Twilight Hammer's Clan for their defeat. Vakos personally burnt three ogres to death, as well as strangling a Twilight Hammer orc with his bare hands. When Blackhand was declared Warchief, Vakos was hesitant to hail allegiance. There had been much bad blood between the Blackrock and Bleeding Hollow, and many of Vakos' clan kept their own amount of autonomy. Nevertheless, the Destroyer led the Horde to numerous victories in Sunnyglade and Grand Hamlet. It was at this time that Vakos began to follow the cult of personality surrounding Orgrim Doomhammer. Vakos and his clan followed him to victories over the humans in destroying Goldshire and Moonbrook. Vakos was part of a force left to occupy Westfall, while the Blackrock Clan went onto besiege and capture Stormwind. Vakos and the rest of the Bleeding Hollow later swore fealty to Orgrim, after Blackhand's death. Second War Doomhammer began plans immediately for an invasion of the northern human kingdoms after the fall of Stormwind. While most of the Horde used ships to invade Lordaeron directly, Vakos was apart of the Bleeding Hollow legions who marched north into Khaz Modan to assault the dwarven kingdom. Vakos and his fellow orcs razed surrounding towns and village, and laid siege to Ironforge for months. One day, word came that Doomhammer had failed to capture the Capital City of Lordaeron, and was in full retreat to the Dark Portal. The Bleeding Hollow lifted their siege, and a hard fought battle between orc and dwarves was fought out for several weeks. Eventuallly, the remnants of the Horde made their way south, and a final confrontation was made at Blackrock Mountain. Despite the Horde's strength and blood-crazed fury, Doomhammer fell and the Horde was broken. In the chaos of the fight, Vakos fled and escaped into the mountains. There he scrounged and scratched off rocks for sustinence in the Redridge Mountains After two years past, Vakos found orc soldiers re-building the Dark Portal. He approached them, and he told them what had happeend at Blackrock and since. They welcomed him into the new Horde led by Ner'zhul. Wounded, tired, and demoralized, Vakos did not follow the Horde north. He instead stayed in the ruin of Stormwind, reading on the humans' history and the nature of Azeroth. It was during this time that the blood haze had begun to fade from Vakos, and he felt himself becoming weak. The Horde began to falter, and Vakos was forced to retreat from Stormwind and trek across the wilderness back to the Dark Portal. Vakos was too late, and the Dark Portal was closed and he lost his way back to his homeland. He was captured and chained up by human soldiers and taken north. Internment The Horde crumbled and the orcs became prisoners on Azeroth. Vakos was taken in shackles north and into Lordaeron, where he was assigned to the Lordamere Internment Camp, stripped of all clothing and put on a starvation diet. Every day, Vakos bought bitterly with his fellow inmates for the small scraps of bread and broth he had to share. He'd often find a high point along the fence and stare out at the lake. Far off in the distance he'd spot the silhouette of the capital city and grow in his despisal of his captors. The guards were brutal and cruel to the orcs, and Vakos' hate for the humans deepened; he became more wild and raucous in his confinement. He at point ripped off the arm of another orc for suggesting they give in, and was punished by spending two years in solitary confinement. He was locked in an old well, and would spend each and every day bashing the walls with his arms, his hate within him boiling his blood. It did, however, wear off. The sheer loneliness and withdrawl from the demon-blood driven orcish rage that surged through his people made Vakos placid and calm. He lost the touch of fel magic, and began to hear the whispers of the elements who had abandoned him decades before. He no longer felt compelled to destroy and kill. He was released from solitary after two years, and realized he was in a different fight to survive in this new world. The boredom of the human commander in the internment camps pushed them to take an interest in gladiatorial matches between the orcs. Local wardens started to throw orcs into the ring to fight for the humans' enjoyment. Vakos was one such orc, fighting against his fellow orcs in order to stay alive. Eventually he set against Varok Saurfang, a famous Blackrock orc who was second-in-command to the Warchief Doomhammer. Varok defeated Vakos, but he was spared his life. For this, Vakos was sold off to an internment camp in Arathi. Mockingly, his warden cut out Vakos' eye; a feigned insult of his Bleeding Hollow clan. The loss of his eye hampered Vakos, and he could no longer fight in the gladiator ring. He spent his remaining time consulting with the older orcs, the same sort who had initiated him into him being a shaman and those who were beginning to re-think their commitment to orcs like Blackhand or Gul'dan. An idea of returning to the ideals before the rise of the Horde became more popular. Exodus to Kalimdor Every day in the Internment Camp, Vakos would find a patch of grass in the common area. He would take the muddy grass, and rub it between his hands. He would play with it with his fingers. For months, Vakos did this until he began to hear the quiet murmers he remembered from his days in Tanaan. The greenery became to emit a warm aura, and the elements of the new world began to listen to his call. As Vakos began to rebuild his life as a farseer, he also came to admire certain orcs around him, in particular Varok Saurfang - the very orc who'd led to the loss of his eye. Vakos made effort to smelt down scraps of raw iron, and fashioned himself a false eye out of the metal. For this, he acquired the nickname '''Ironeye. Years continued to go by, and the demon blood oaths they'd made on Draenor faded from the orcs. Word made its way around that the renegade Frostwolves, Warsong, and Blackrock still roamed free which gave hope to being set free. On the day that Thrall and Doomhammer rode to broke open the gates, Vakos fought hard to free as many orcs as he could. When Doomhammer fell, Vakos swore allegiance to the new young warchief. Vakos was then amongst the orcs who sailed across the Great Sea to the much promised continent of Kalmdor. The voyage was tumultuous, and many lives were lost. Vakos' ship was torn apart in the storm and he was shipwrecked on an island, only to be later rescued by a group of goblin merchants. For this, Vakos became a lifelong friend of the goblin people. Eventually he made it to Kalimdor, but arrived too late to be part of the campaigns in Ashenvale or Hyjal. Because of this, Vakos contributed to the construction of Orgrimmar and healing wounded soldiers returning from the front. It was here that Vakos was introduced to someone who would be his friend, the tauren shaman Hashkii Sunfeather. War with Theramore After the war against the Burning Legion subsided, Vakos set off with a group of orcs from many clans - as well as his friend Haskii - to meet a tauren assembly south of Camp Taurajo. It was there under a moonlit sky that the orcs and tauren swore themselves to a code of honour worth of their ancestors. Vakos picked up a stone and carved out a wound on his left hand; the blood collected in an old stone cup brought by one of the tauren women. Vakos took the cup and placed a stone over the lip, stating that all living being share the same life force and are born forth from the same Earthmother. He swore an oath to the Horde upon the cup. The rest of orcs and tauren followed suit, and the Bloodmaw were born. These orcs and tauren were tested in the immediacy of their birth by the landing of Kul Tiran troops in Dustwallow. Alliance troops streamed into the Barrens, burning down villages and trying to destroy much of the peace that the Warchief had worked for. The Bloodmaw fought ferociously across the Southern Barrens, raiding Alliance convoys and distrupting their supply lines. When the Lady Proudmoore took control of Theramore over his father and a ceasefire was declared, the battle lines had already been drawn across the continent. The Bloodmaw did their best to re-group, and Vakos opened up trade with the Alliance citadel. An uneasy working relationship was had, but relations were amicable. Vakos turned down opportunities to lead men up to Northrend, and even refused a chance to return to his home through the Dark Portal. The Bloodmaw took in a great number of trolls and even goblins. In the wake of the Cataclysm, however, war erupted again and Vakos and the Bloodmaw were plunged into an unending battle. Orgrimmar troops arrived from the north and quickly built the Desolation Hold that would serve as the Bloodmaw's new home. Vakos fought nearly every day, slaying an uncountable number of Alliance troops in the pursuit of his much desired peace. Darkspear Revolution As the conflict with Theramore intensified into an all-out war between the Horde and Alliance, Vakos saw the limits of even his deepest ferocity. The Farseer was riding his wolf with some of his men along the northern road, returning from a council in the Crossroads. There he spotted zeppelins and fires over Dustwallow. He and his men rode hard, but before he could even begin to get there, he saw a massive explosion occur. Knowing that the Warchief had gone too far, Vakos clenched his teeth and shed salted tears over the hundred if not thousands of civilians who would die that day in the Alliance city. Vakos would be more horrified to know the true circumstances of the crime, and swore vengenace. It was at that time that discontent spread throughout the Horde. Tauren and trolls began retreating to their homelands, and the Kor'kron began to occupy the Barrens. At a meeting of Kalimdor leaders at Bloodhoof Village, Vakos was amongst those who would join the Darkspear Vol'jin in his revolt against Garrosh. With this, the Bloodmaw returned to the Barrens and began to root out the Kor'kron. Many of the Bloodmaw fell to the bloody banner of Garrosh's soldier. The Kor'Kron Legion (WIP) Category:Orc Category:Characters Category:Warlocks Category:Shaman Category:Bleeding Hollow Clan Category:Bloodmaw Outriders Category:Earthen Ring Category:The Kor'kron Legion Category:Bleeding Hollow Orc